Rhino: Agencies – Brazil coach Dorival Júnior confirmed on Friday that he will bring Neymar da Silva back to the national team once he has ‘fully recovered’ from a serious knee injury, according to a press conference after announcing the squad for the South American qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay.

In a press conference after announcing the squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay, Dorival said: ‘Neymar is a very important, fundamental and decisive player, a different type. We all know that.’

Neymar continues to be absent from the squad, as he is still in the final stage of his recovery from a cruciate ligament tear in October last year.

He explained: ‘We have to respect the (medical) protocols, he is not yet fully back, but we have no doubt that when he recovers, he will be called up again.

‘He’s a player who doesn’t need comments, everyone knows how important he is. But it’s still early, we’ll wait.’

The Canaries are in a difficult situation, sitting in sixth place with a poor record of 2 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses, and are 15 points adrift of leaders Argentina.